maskormenacelogs | Catchall for July

WHO: Charles Xavier, Charles!clone and You!
WHERE: A bit of everywhere.
WHEN: July
WHAT: Meetings, powers training, random encounters, clone-a-rama.
WARNINGS: TBA, Charles clone is likely to use telepathy without IC consent. Here is my telepathy permission post if you want to opt out of that.

MEET CHARLES

a. home, still at Nonah
Charles lives in Nonah, in individual housing with Erik, Jean and Wanda. It's a two story building but with no stairs at the front and no thresholds that would make it hard to navigate with a wheelchair. If he has invited you into his home, he'll be waiting with a pot of tea and a tin of cookies. But if you're a chance visitor, he will welcome you just as warmly.

He's gathering his bearings finally and actually made a home for himself in the bedroom that used to be his, claimed some space around the house by piles of books often forgotten onto the tables and good scotch in a reachable cupboard in the kitchen. He's no longer red as a lobster what was going on after the beach episode of Swear-ins and Erik finally convinced him to have a haircut. Gone is the mullet and back is the 60's floppy hair-do. You might even catch him wearing a t-shirt, maybe with an X-men logo on it or a silly slogan, he got a few of those from Fanport.

Let's have a cup of tea or a game of chess, or just good conversation.

b. powers training at the danger room / Maria-Francis Foundation
The Maria-Francis Foundation building resides in ~~Nonah~~ De Chima. In the basement there is a wide space that Erik has been working with all month to get up and running as a powers training centre. The building is modern and tall, and Charles has taken a habit of waiting the people he's made appointments with at the front lobby.

He's excited to get the actual training started, get those hours in and grind some practice into people who have contacted him.

If you're not here for powers training, you can find him in the office, going through the Foundation's paperwork. You're damn right he's snooping on his own business. What of it?

c. interview, wherever seems convenient
Perhaps you're meeting him in a cafe or a park, he'll even agree to go the beach if that's convenient for you. What he's interested in is learning about what you have to say after all. Charles is very curious about what has aspired in this world before his time and how to put the details together into a cohesive picture in his mind.

He's quick to greet you with a smile and a warm handshake. Please, sit down. Would you like a cup of tea or coffee first? Do you mind if he makes some quick notes while you're discussing?

d. wildcard
Would you like something else? Perhaps run into him in the library or find him feeding pigeons one fine morning in the park? Maybe he was supposed to come to you? Are you having a dinner out? Are you one of the people he keeps an eye on and something is going awfully wrong? He would find a way to contact you. Throw me a bone, I'll run with it.

MEET THE CLONE

e. random encounter
Charles, the clone, looks and sounds exactly like the original but he doesn't have the stylish wheelchair with big X-symbols on the wheels. A big giveaway? Maybe not. His flippant attitude is probably the big neon sign that you weren't expecting. Wherever you meet - cafe, library, school, even the Foundation building - he's going to greet you with a sunny smile and a warm handshake, introduce himself if necessary and especially if you're a pretty brunette, he will flirt playfully while falling short with playing the caring and concerned game that Charles excels at.

He's going to be a little bit impatient, unlikely to avoid using his gifts even if you ask him to and multitasking to the max. Good luck catching all of his attention at any given time. But he's new to his powers, and easily overwhelmed.

f. for those he's interacted with before
As time goes by, he will start targeting Charles' friends and family. He'll find them at their work places or stage a random meeting elsewhere. Once or twice he'll even wander into the house in Nonah. You might find him at the kitchen having a cup of tea and leafing a genetics book, or perhaps wandering around, looking at pictures and fingering everything with curiosity. Or rolling into your workplace with a sunny smile and a suggestion to grab an early lunch.

g. wildcard
Something else you had in your mind? I'm an open book, come at me, bruh!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The strong reaction to a little flirt is what has the clone practically purring with delight. He likes it when people wake up and stop dreaming their way through their lives. Their minds light up like a Christmas tree and it's quite delightful.

The difference between delight, excitement and actual fear is so very thin, isn't it? Especially when you are a clone with barely the maturity of a five-year-old. ]

I hardly would flatter a friend, [ he says, teasingly. ] You are pretty, that's just a fact.

And I'm hardly going to melt in a little bit of rain. You needn't worry. I came all the way here, I'm sure I can find my way out of here as well. [ The guilt trip is right there. Take it or leave it. ]

[He wants to run. That's an over-the-top fear reaction, but it's his immediate thought, that he needs to put space between them, he needs to get away and get away as quickly as possible. But there's another, competing fear: the fear that Charles is just being playful and will think Anatoly is gay if he comments on how flirtatious he sounds. He can't bear the thought of being viewed as that kind of man. The risk of being seen as that sort of person is too much, he can't leave because if someone in as high esteem as Charles is held in says Anatoly is inclined towards men, everyone will believe him.

Anatoly shoves down his panic, grips his bag far too tightly and forces a veneer of polite mild interest on his face. There's no way to just send Charles back after he came all this way without it looking suspicious.] Very well. But if it rains, as your elder I reserve the right to be smug about that fact, Charles.

[ Homophobic, though? The clone finds this hilarious. Because Charles definitely has some leanings towards that side of the playing ground. More than a little. As a man from the 30's, he isn't vocal about it, but it's right there.

Here, the clone wonders how Anatoly would feel after learning that. Maybe he wouldn't have such a high opinion on Charles anymore. ]

Ah, I think I'll survive a little bit of smugness, dear one. But you have to promise me that I get to take you out on a date some other time.

Charles, I'm married! [Anatoly half-shrieks, and now he does back up. His opinion of Charles will have to wait. Right now, his mind is completely caught up in a whirlwind of panic and fear. Depending on how much the clone is reading his mind, he might get glimpses of a much younger, WWI era Anatoly and another man, whose kisses had been gentle and loving until he didn't get what he want and everything turned angry and violent.

He can't risk ever repeating that sort of experience. It has almost nothing to do with being born in the 1890's and much more to do with the sting of being betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. If a man he once thought was a good friend could do that to him, then any man so inclined was capable of it - even Charles.]

I'm fairly sure Erik is interested in you, anyway, [he notes, struggling to keep the panic out of his voice. He's going for a snarky tone of voice, but it's shakier than that. He's not fooling anyone, psychic powers or not.] I do not want to get in the way of that. You two have history. You don't really know me.

Oh, please, [ the clone is laughing now, like the little asshole he is. ] I wouldn't have to force myself upon you. Do you think I could? Erik made sure that I would sit in this chair for the rest of my days. A bullet to the spine does a great job of that.

[ There it is, clear admission that he's reading Anatoly's mind and being rather tactless about it, even. ]

Erik and I definitely have a history. Violent and long history. Don't worry, Anatoly, I'm not going to try and kiss you. I do find it curious that a man like you would find it so offensive to think of another man in such a way, though. It's quite close minded of you.

[ Oh well, Charles will have to do quite a bit of patching up later on... He'll be so sorry. ]

[He feels the color drain from his face. This is an absolute nightmare. He can't process that Charles would betray him by pushing into his head like that when he never had before, it's so invasive it's like a betrayal. There is some pitch-black humor in the spinal wound, though, that has his sympathies extending out to Charles despite himself.] It's not about - I am not refusing you because you are in a wheelchair, Charles, I am not that shallow.

I - men - it is fine if men who are unmarried engage in such things consensually but I am married. I did not realize Erik was the one who... I would not have suggested that, if I had known. You shouldn't be with anyone dangerous. No one should, even if they are inclined towards men. [He hates the idea of having that inclination. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. He doesn't want to be a bad person or an abusive partner and to him, that's what most gay men read as. He can control electricity now, he's stronger than Charles, he could hurt him when the man has already been hurt and betrayed by people as it is.

And yes, Anatoly's thoughts are both 'I would never be with him' and 'he deserves better' alongside 'this is dangerous' and general fear. He's Russian, contradictions and complexities are part of his life, his thoughts and his issues. But as beautiful as Charles' eyes are, he has enough on his plate without adding Anatoly and his self-loathing to it. His gaze lingers on Charles' lips and he shuts his eyes, disgusted by himself.] You're right, I am extremely close-minded. I can admit that. Which is why you should find someone else to be with, Charles. Someone who is not so... hypocritical.

[ The clone is quite as unconcerned about the wheelchair as the original version is, waving a dismissive hand at the apology. ] Don't worry about it. I did not suggest that you wouldn't find me attractive--

Actually I know you do.

-- but I was suggesting that I'd need to control you mentally to be able to do you any harm. I am rather weak, you see.

[ He shakes his head, still looking mildly curious rather than concerned. It's difficult to figure out what he actually feels about Erik who put him in this chair. Is it anger or something else? Who even knows? Not this clone definitely. ]

He's not dangerous. He's ... [ Complicated, Charles would say. ] Confused I suppose.

Much like you are.

You should let yourself go a little bit. Holding the reigns that hard is only going to make you pop one day.

If you ever take control of me mentally, I will electrocute you the second I get control back, [Anatoly says, low and cold, remembering exactly how painful being violated was, how he had nearly gone mad, the intense self-loathing and paranoia and anger all rising up in his mind. Half the people here think Anatoly is suspect due to being Russian, an actual crime isn't much of a leap. It's an irrational one, but he isn't rational on this topic, not at all.

He reigns in his emotions before he says something worse or does something they're both going to regret.] A lot of poisonous wildflowers look nice. That does not make them non poisonous. You're more deeply confused than I ever was, if you think I would ever 'let go' in the manner you're suggesting.

Leave. Now. I don't want to have another word of this conversation, Charles.

[ Oh, but he's giving the clone all he really wants. The fireworks that go off in his mind are positively fantastic. He likes strong thoughts, sharp and cutting. ]

I would apologise, [ he says with a shitty little smile. ] If only I would feel sorry.

Good day, Anatoly. Perhaps you'll change your mind in the future.

[ Leave that for Charles to worry about... ]

Catchall for July

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